Geintra

This paper presents an approach to design Electronic
Systems Curricula for making electronics more appealing to
students. Since electronics is an important grounding for other
disciplines (computer science, signal processing, and communications),
this approach proposes the development of multidisciplinary
projects using the project-based learning (PBL) strategy
for increasing the attractiveness of the curriculum. The proposed
curriculum structure consists of eight courses: four theoretical
courses and four PBL courses (including a compulsory Master’s
thesis). In PBL courses, the students, working together in groups,
develop multidisciplinary systems, which become progressively
more complex. To address this complexity, the Department of
Electronic Engineering has invested in the last five years in many
resources for developing software tools and a common hardware.
This curriculum has been evaluated successfully for the last four
academic years: the students have increased their interest in electronics
and have given the courses an average grade of more than
71% for all PBL course evaluations (data extracted from students
surveys). The students have also acquired new skills and obtained
very good academic results: the average grade was more than 74%
for all PBL courses. An important result is that all students have
developed more complex and sophisticated electronic systems,
while considering that the results are worth the effort invested.